By djariya at 2012-03-15

Synopsis:



Episode 18 of 22

this was episode 18 ... of 22?? what a perfect cliff hanger for a season ender.

Dan Harmon tweeted this week that NBC is airing the last couple of episodes out of order.

For the 3 episode finale in 2 weeks, they are airing it in this order:

22
20
21

This show isn't really serialized so I don't think it will affect it that much.

I apologize if this tumblr is well-known, I haven't paid attention to every thread, but it's fantastic!

http://craigashforth.tumblr.com/

You say after an episode about the death of a character in the previous episode

Loved it. Totally loved it.

Troy asking how much arm the armless man had, had me rolling...

Not only that, but the callbacks to Chang's child army and Fauxby.

This episode felt like it was only 15 minutes, whereas 30 Rock felt like it was an hour long.

"Transform and roll out!"

That and Jeff's line about believing that Britta was smarter when they met were great!

Not as good as last week (which set up the bar unbelievably high) but a good episode. I guess there are only two weeks left? Didn't someone post that the final week would have 3 episodes together?

Yea 5/17 will be Community, 30 Rock, Community, Community.

I loved Britta saying "I'm the worst."

I have started taking great joy in focusing on Joel whenever the Dean comes on screen. His reactions seem to be of genuine amusement.

I'm thinking they don't tell the cast how Jim Rash is going to walk in.

Then god damn it, I'm going to make sure I watch them in the order that Harmon intended.

General Chang

This episode kind of ended like a series finale.

"To my ex-wife, Magda, I leave herpes...but she knows that. Its been dealt with."-Starburns


The following was so Troy:

"...by the time I finish this sentence, 100 people will have died in China." -Jeff
"Why did you stop talking! I have to call my penpal." -Troy

I used to be on board with this show, but after the recent debacle with Chevy Chase and the declining consistency and quality of the show, I have to say I wasn't too disappointed to see them all get canned. They have turned most characters into cheap caricatures and somehow positioned Abed as the spokesperson for the series instead of Jeff, and I don't know how many people can identify with Abed. Ramping up the Chang really turned me off as well. He was brilliant in a supporting role, but it's like turning the reins of Arrested Development over to Buster Bluth or The Office to Kevin Malone. Hilarious, great characters in small doses, but would ruin the show if they were given A-plots.

I liked the mention of Starburns' lawyer missing an arm, since in the alternate timeline...

Weird!

Look guy, if you don't like Community then go and watch the episodes of Whitney that you saved on your DVR.

I can't believe that you guys catch that stuff.

Very awesome. And with that ending, and the mention of alternate timelines, it's likely intentional.

Was this show renewed?

No, it's still very much "on the bubble", it pulls more viewers and the same demo as 30 Rock but both are at series lows, and both pull like 3m - 3.5m viewers. If The Office gets moved, NBCs Thursday night will fall even further.

It doesn't have to be the highest rated, it just needs to be higher than whatever is in last.

NBC so far this year:

Axed -
Prime Suspect
Best Friends Forever
The Firm
Free agents
The Playboy Club
Chuck (finished its run)

Likely Canned -
Bent
Harry's Law
Awake
Are You There, Chelsea?

On the Bubble -
Whitney
30 Rock
Community
Parenthood
Up All Night

Likely to be Renewed -
Law and Order: SVU
Parks and Rec
The Office

Renewed -
Grimm
Smash

Ouch, that is a low blow. Whitney? Ouch.

I'm continuing to watch out of respect for the first two seasons but this one has been wildly uneven and taken some strange, unrewarding directions. Less Chevy Chase (as looks like will be the case) is also a bad thing (like him or not, he does bring the funny. "Let's burn this mother down!"). Hoping they can pull this Chang storyline together in a semi-satisfying way and if they get a renewal, learn from their mistakes in this season...